Kegler's Corner: Jenna Hert is Bowler of the Week

The 3 pound, 6 ounce pins put up a heck of a good fight at Hood River’s Orchard Lanes last week.

And why not? A rack of tenpins weighs nearly 34 pounds. That is a formidable test for any bowling ball, which by USBC specification, weighs no more than 16 pounds. Why the pins were so successful in not falling down last week is difficult to attribute, other than, maybe, it was a phase of the moon.

Sometimes it’s hard to figure out the quirks of this great game. But bowling is always a challenge, sometimes more so than at other times, and that’s why we do it.

League action is exciting no matter how you cut it and scores are always relative to the conditions and the skill of the bowlers. Having said that, there were many success stories to write about.

Jenna Hert, who made the pins dance in the high-powered and fast-paced Wednesday night Fraternal league, rolled a fine 226 game and 591 series. Jenna comes from a well-known bowling family, so she is not intimidated by hotshot bowlers, or stubborn sticks. She ended up 126 pins over her average, the most over average by anyone at the lanes last week. That makes her the Bowler of the Week.

A close second was senior superstar Gordon Sim, who continues to bask in the local bowling limelight after logging last week’s only 700 series: a classy 720 that he fired in the Monday night Men’s Industrial league. Gordon was 120 pins over his average for the night’s work.

Who else was hot last week? Well, Jeremy Bloom didn’t cool down much from that perfecto he tossed a couple weeks ago, as he notched a solid 697 series in the Tuesday Nite Mixed league. With that fine outing, Jeremy actually raised that big time 220-plus average of his, which is not easy to do.

Other notables included all-stars Nancy Asai and Sandy Holmes with good outings in the Tuesday Nite Mixed. Nancy led the big parade after a slow start with big 243 and 234 games that propelled her to a 632 series while Sandy ended up with a nice 624 set. Bernie Keys also stayed in the game with a fine 234 game that she notched in the Tuesday morning ladies Workshirkers league.

Kudos are also in order for the irrepressible George Buck, who continued the hot streak he’s been on lately in the Wednesday afternoon senior Colts and Fillies league. He rolled a 600 series capped by a 226 game. George has been quietly sneaking up on us with all that practice he does. One of these days he may pass us all. If he can just free up that release of his and follow through smoothly instead of cutting his swing off, the sky will be the limit and that 600 will quickly turn into a 700.

Last but not least, young Aaron Troxel found the range in the Fraternal, rolling a huge 269 game and 655 series, which was 106 pins over his average. Aaron has a unique approach to the game. He doesn’t put his thumb in the ball; instead, he uses his two middle fingers only and cups the ball in his hand. This method allows him to impart a ton of revs on the ball. When he’s on target, the pins literally explode off the deck. Aaron just missed making the Team of the Week by a mere three pins; maybe we should have a sixth man award like in pro basketball? If we did, Aaron would have won it last week but, with the pin-mixing potential he has, this is just the tip of the iceberg — you’re going to see many more really big scores from him in the future.